Mom of 3 Thought It Was Pregnancy Pain. Then She Learned She’d Been Living with Terminal Cancer for 5 Years (Exclusive)

A mom of three with incurable cancer has devoted her life to "just live."

Transcript

00:00You've lived with this cancer for at least five years and look at all this life that you have lived.

00:04And she gave me hope.

00:12In 2021, I was pregnant with our son and our son ended up being born because my placenta ruptured

00:19at 35 weeks. And we were only home for a few days and I had collapsed on the floor.

00:25And I was rushed to the trauma room and they had placed me in a CT machine, which revealed innumerable

00:31lung tumors. And at that point, I only had 15 liver cysts. The biopsy was supposed to be a quick

00:37day procedure. And the doctor had walked in and had said, I'm sorry, but this is cancer. And he said,

00:44I've never even heard of it. I don't even know how to pronounce the name. And my first response was,

00:49well, that's reassuring. It is an ultra rare cancer that cannot be seen, unfortunately,

00:55through ultrasound. And throughout those five years of having that pain, my body was growing cancer.

01:01Thankfully, we found a sarcoma specialist and she said, you know, yeah, you could die in the five

01:07years, likely three, but I want you to just live. And I looked at her and I'm like, like, just live,

01:13like, what does that even mean? And she said, you've lived with this cancer for at least five years.

01:19And look at all this life that you have lived. And she gave me hope. So January 1st, 2022,

01:26hopped on a treadmill and I learned how to walk. And then I learned how to run. And my life has

01:31changed drastically since that moment. I competed in a 10k race with my son pushing a stroller in 60

01:37minutes. And then I ran a half marathon with my childhood best friends in Niagara Falls. So for 2024,

01:43the big year being my third year anniversary, you know, where the first oncologist said I would likely

01:48pass away, I went really wild with my goals. And I told my husband, I wanted to be a triathlete on

01:54August 20th, 2024. The day that I was supposed to die, I ran a half marathon 21 kilometers. And then

02:01I hopped on my bike and I biked 104 kilometers. And then I jumped in the ocean and I swam two kilometers

02:07home to my children's arms. I started the just live fun run where we raise funds. And every year we come

02:14together on around my cancerversary date. And we choose hard together and we run 1k, 5k, 10k,

02:20whatever distance you'd like virtually or in person. And last year we raised $108,000. I want to live.

02:27I deserve to live. And I would love to be a part of a change. So no other mom has to sit there and

02:33hear that they have this ultra rare sarcoma. It's been really beautiful to connect with people and hear

02:38from them how my living out loud has supported them, whether it's through cancer, through mental

02:44health, through being a mom. It's just been really beautiful for our family to share this together.

02:50It is just really cool to think back. And I'm like, wow, that was actually for almost four years ago

02:56that I laid in that bed. And I thought my life was over and look at how much life I've lived.